Negative Space Ch. 12

Phew! It's finally winter break, and I can FINALLY get you this chapter. It has been waiting so patiently at the back of my to-do list for a couple months now, and it is due to the persistent notes and messages of admiration from all of you that I have had the encouragement I needed to finish it. So THANK YOU for your help! Please continue to comment and rate and message me and so on, and I will continue to work on this. I hope you all have wonderful holidays!

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A phone rang, very far away, but I decided it was entirely unimportant. More important was the warm, silky body pressed against mine. The body rumbled, growling softly in frustration when the phone began ringing a second time. I giggled, wedging myself deeper between his limbs.

"What are you laughing at, you demon?" his deep voice rolled over me, vibrating through his chest.

"Oh, who would have thought the magnificent King would be so grumpy in the mornings?"

"It's NOT morning. It's only just dusk, and I want to sleep in. So shush. And get that phone to stop ringing!"

I giggled more. "It's not my phone! I think it's your royal wake up call." His hair was messy and he had pillow marks on his cheek, but it only served to endear him to me. I crawled up and kissed the red marks, then as he began to smile I kissed his forehead, eyes, nose, and eventually his lips. Now the rumbling chest had started up again, but he was practically purring, not growling. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his face into my chest.

"That's a good kitty," I cooed. "Now go get that phone! That's the 4th time someone has called it. It might be important."

Theo groaned, and rolled over, pinning me beneath him. "No. I'm sleeping. Now be quiet and go back to sleep." He nuzzled his face into my neck, and proceeded to fall asleep again immediately. This felt so right. He felt so good right there, cuddled up to me. The phone stopped ringing for a moment, but started up again almost immediately. I groaned now, but slipped out from beneath Theo and skipped naked across the room to grab it. I hopped quickly back into bed and pressed "talk."

"Hello? Uh, Theodore's line." I fumbled, realizing I had no idea what kind of a phone this was, and who would be calling it. The voice on the other end fumbled too, clearly confused.

"Who is this?" The woman sounded more bewildered than angry, so I decided to go easy on her.

"I'm taking His Majesty's calls for the moment. Would you please let me know who's calling?"

"This is Her Majesty the Queen of California. Please connect me immediately." Oops. I guess I should have realized this was a royalty-only line.

"Thank you ma'am, just one moment." I put the phone on mute and shook Theo vigorously. "Wake up, you miscreant! Slacker! Malcontent! You've got a very important-sounding Queen on the line, and I don't want to get in any more trouble with her than I'm already in!"

Theo reached out for the phone and I turned off mute and handed it to him. Without even opening his eyes launched immediately into a flawless conversation about regulation of trade, taxes, and a bill that would soon be voted on in the human congress. I had just begun to doze again when he hung up.

"Now why on earth would you do that to me? I was ignoring it on purpose!" Theo finally opened his eyes as he rolled over to put them directly in front of mine. I sighed, entirely absorbed by their endless gold. He inched his head closer to mine, and I mirrored him, pressing my lips to his. They were warm and soft, pulling me towards him, contrasting entirely with his scratchy stubble. He was just beginning to grin with the glint of desire I loved so much, when the phone rang again. He rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Now look what you've done. Oy. You good for nothing meddler!" He reached for the phone while nibbling my ear. Tingling rushed up through my spine and my whole head buzzed with desire.

"Hello?" Theo didn't bother with any introduction. He stopped nibbling on me, though, and his expression became annoyed.

"Oh just shove it, Flo. I'm trying to get some rest." He was silent for a moment and then winked at me. He began to move down my body, licking and sucking, coming very close to my nipples, but not touching them. I arched toward him as he grumbled, "Well there's just nothing I can do about that. You tell Prometheus yourself. I don't care." When he finally licked my nipple, biting in gently, I gasped out loud. Theo rolled his eyes at me. "What, that noise? Oh, I just snapped a pencil in half, trying to vent my anger away from you." Again he was quiet. "Flo— Florence! Okay. Okay! I give up. Here she is." He handed the phone to me and shrugged. I held it up to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Well, did you at least feed yourself?" Florence's no-nonsense, snappy voice came over the line.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, did feed from him?"

"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not a vampire! And how did you even know I was here?"

"History isn't my only talent. I also have a particular knack for knowing when people are having sex."

"Really?" I asked, amazed.

"No, dumbass. I asked your secretary. She said you'd never come back from Theo's after you went over for a meeting."

"Oh. Well, what do you mean about feeding?"

"Well, do you feel hungry?"

"No, not entirely. But that doesn't mean anything."

"Yes it does. You haven't eaten food in hours, almost a half a day, and yet you're completely satisfied. You fed from him when you had sex. You absorbed his sexual energy and nourished yourself."

I was silent. Whoa. Really? I guess that would explain the strange out-of-body experience when I felt and saw everything through Theo's eyes.

"Are you sure, Florence? I mean, I've been sort of moving back and forth between vampire and human sleep schedules and it has really thrown my appetite off. It could be that."

"No," she said, and that was that. She was certain, even if I wasn't. "Now, I've been doing some searching, and I have an idea about where to look next for your species. Shall we meet tonight around midnight?"

"Well, I was planning to be at the clinic. I could meet you at 3, though. I've been generally closing up around then to work with Elliott. Would that be okay?"

"I suppose. Why don't you come to my house? I'll have a car waiting for you."

"Alright then. Thank you. See you tonight—" The phone clicked off. She certainly wasn't one for pleasantries.

"So what was that all about?" Theo asked, gently scraping his fangs over my hipbones. I shivered, pressing my head back into the pillow, and lifting my hips to feel the sharp points a little closer. Theo shuddered in response, pulling his head back and making direct eye contact with me. His eyes were solid silver, almost as if they had been made out of mercury.

"Be careful what you do there, hotstuff. Don't taunt me unless you want to follow through on it."

"Mmmmm, well, maybe I do," I murmured, opening my legs for him. The lines in his face suddenly became deeper, more rigid, and he moved to my thigh, gently licking, nipping, and sucking closer and closer to my hot core. I gasped as the sensations ricocheted through my body, up to my chest and back down to my cunt, burning and tingling with more and more ferocity. I shook my head, trying to center myself, trying to keep myself grounded—I decided to pay attention this time as I drank from him. Knowing the power I had over him was too heady though, and I couldn't help but giggle when he pressed his erection against my leg, desperate for contact with my body. I decided to tone it down a little—it was getting out of my control too fast, and if I wanted to pay attention to how it felt when I fed, I needed to not be too out of my mind with desire and lust when it happened.

I pulled back, realizing that without meaning to, I had sent little tendrils of gold thread out like a spider's nest to ensnare Theo. I pulled them back from him, letting him be there with me of his own accord. He looked up for a moment, confused, almost as if he'd just sobered up. He could remember everything he'd been doing, but he hadn't had any control over himself as he'd done it. I worried for a moment that he'd blame me and be angry that I'd ensnared him so. I was about to say something when he let his eyes trace down my body, feasting on my heaving chest, my hard nipples, the thin red lines where he'd marked my skin with his fangs, and his eyes colored again, the dark desire painting his face.

"God, you are so fucking beautiful, Lana. I just want to be inside you." He crawled up my body and I luxuriated in the feeling of his hot, smooth skin sliding along mine. Every fraction of my body was on fire, and any contact with his sent shockwaves down my spine.

"You feel so good against me," I panted, excitedly holding my hips up to line up with his cock. He eased his way into my cunt and groaned aloud, closing his eyes and letting his fangs elongate even more. I lifted my head up to kiss his mouth, licking his fangs and sucking on his lips. With a growl he began to pump into me, his hips moving faster and faster, and I began to spiral outward, my orgasm building steadily. But I wanted him, and I wanted to own him, to drink from him, absorb him. I pushed him over onto his back and pressed his shoulders down to the bed.

"What?" he panted, confused. He must have seen something in my eyes, though, because he stopped talking and his eyes glazed with desire. I crawled over his legs, bringing my mouth down to his cock, and licking once from the root to the tip. A strangled cry left his mouth and his hips jumped, trying to keep in contact with my tongue. Without warning I sucked him all the way into my mouth and this time I watched his knuckles turn white as he clasped my wrist. I shook him off and went to work, sucking, licking, holding him as deep in my throat as I could. I could not remember a time I had been more turned on by giving head, but I was so wet I could feel my juices dripping down my thighs. I wanted to consume him, to bring him so far out that he couldn't help but explode in my mouth.

He began to whimper, alternating between trying to push himself farther into my mouth and pulling back from the sensation. I wrapped my hand around the bottom of his cock and began to pull it up toward me, keeping my tongue out so that the head of his cock laid on it as I used my hand to bring him closer. He groaned and leaned up on his elbows, his eyes trained on my mouth, my lips, my tongue. I alternated between using my hand and my mouth, my other hand at his balls, his sensitive skin, digging my nails into the flesh of his cheeks.

"Oh Jesus, Lana, fuck! Oh fuck I want to be in you! Come here." He demanded, pulling on my arms and heaving me up onto him. I began to protest, but he arranged me above his cock and as I felt its wet head touching my cunt my whole body shivered. I rotated my hips slightly to line up perfectly, teasing his head as I sank down only half an inch before coming back up. After a few minutes of this he groaned, "please!" Without warning I sank down on him till we were fused together. I threw my head back in pleasure—he filled me so perfectly I almost came immediately. The sensation was so sudden, so perfect. I let the gasp leave my lips and dropped down to my hands and knees so I could begin to seriously fuck him. I rode him hard, grinding my hips down, gyrating so that I pulled his cock in every direction, changing the angle so my tightness varied. I was euphoric. And that euphoria had to be—I pulled myself back, closing my eyes so that when I opened them I could see through that magical veil. I could see us glowing, not with the golden strings I normally saw, but this time we were smack dab in the middle of a single, glowing orb of golden light. Right then he began to growl, and I knew he was close. His eyes snapped open to show me the steel eyes from before, and he grabbed my wrist and sunk his fangs into my radial artery without hesitation. As always, I gasped quickly at the pain before reveling in the feeling of my blood pulsing into his mouth. My cunt began to spasm as I delighted in feeding him, and his cock responded, jerking suddenly as he began to come into me. I rode out my pleasure, letting it surge through my body, but I kept my eyes open, watching the glowing orb burn brighter and brighter until it began to suck into my body. It came in closer and closer, until I felt a slight tingle as it sunk in through my skin, leaving my whole body to glow faintly as I slumped down onto Theo.

Theo nuzzled my face, leaving a streak of blood on my cheek and licking it off.

"I love the way your blood tastes as you come."

******

Flo's apartment was a conglomeration of every image I had of her in my head—Flo the teenager, the sorceress, the ancient vampire, the herbalist, the envoy from Prometheus. There were pristine couches and a tv and a wall of old leather bound books and herbs in jars and a ipod with speakers—none of it fit quite right. Flo herself sat on a cream white couch without a single stain, snapping gum and flipping through a teen magazine. I didn't know what to say, but somehow she realized this and organized herself for me, making it easier on the human. She sat up, closed the magazine, and effortlessly shook of the teen-ness that had poured through her posture and facial expression just a moment before. Immediately she was professional, and not to be messed with. She gestured to the matching couch opposite her.

"So like I said, I've been going through our databases. And I'd like to do one more test, but then I think I can surely say what you are."

"What do you think I am?" I asked immediately, unable to play cool. Flo just smiled, settling back in her chair. "Let me tell you a story. In the days of fur and iron, in places that required fire and the ability to survive, there lived a young girl. This girl was the daughter of a man and his sister. As incest was normal in this family's home town, nothing was thought of it. The little girl and her brother lived happily in their parent's house, learning the things children might about fire and hunting and surviving. Their mother and father loved them dearly, and taught them all they could. However, time passed, and things changed, forcing the family to move to a bigger town, a more regal place, almost a city. Quickly it was discovered that their parents were siblings, and as incest was frowned upon here, they were split apart, and the children were thrown into the night. On the streets of this town, the girl quickly learned that to be a young woman, just barely 16, warranted her no assurance of a job. She tried what she could, digging through trash heaps, cleaning up for the fish sellers at the market for a meal, and her brother did the same. It kept her alive.

"It is important to remember, though, that alive is not the same as happy, or even tolerable. Living in constant starvation is—" Flo broke off for a moment, an expression crossing her face as if it could to easily have been her in the market place. She knew what it felt like to starve. "Living in constant starvation is more than torture. It is the complete recreation of who you are as a person, what you aim to be. Not only is the old you torn to shreds with each night you try to fall asleep to an empty stomach, but you begin to understand the phrase 'willing to do anything' in an entirely new light. It's not even just willing, it's eager, determined. So you can clearly understand that when she stood up from cleaning the last of the fish guts from the gutter she was easily entranced by the glitter that came from the alleyway to her right.

"She slipped away from the main market and moved slowly through the shadows of two hulking stone buildings coming close enough to rub shoulders over her. At the end of the alleyway she saw the most beautiful thing she had seen in her short, desperate life. A gold necklace being pulled from the forge at that very moment, still molten, burning, and glowing. She could feel the magic, the Khrusos, or in this language, the seiðr, churning, rolling within it. She knew it was her Khrusos. She knew she had to have it. And it was at that moment that she saw the four men staring at her, a silhouette in the doorway, blocking the last of the afternoon sun.

"The man holding the necklace out of the flames was the first to speak. 'It is beautiful, is it not, Freyja," calling her Freyja, or Lady, for the first time in her life, even if in jest. She could only jerk her head in gesture that was taken to be a nod. The men all laughed, but it was not a warm laugh, it was a tired, bitter laugh. It was the laugh of the downtrodden as they cheer themselves up by pushing others down even farther. As they turned to ignore her once more, she couldn't stop herself from asking, 'How much is it? The necklace?' This time they didn't even laugh. 'More than you can afford, little Freyja. Go home to your hovel and leave us to work.' She wouldn't be put off though.

"She went home that night, but could only bear it a few hours. She had to touch the necklace, to feel the Khrusos emanating from it. Somehow she knew, without being told, that if she could only wear that necklace for a moment she would change her life irreversibly. So she crept back to the market, abandoned and pitch black at this time of night, and felt her way along the stone walls of the buildings until she came to the alleyway. She hurried to the door of the forge, trying to make as little noise as possible, and easily slid a small knife through the rudimentary lock to open it from the outside. As she stepped inside the building she knew immediately where the necklace was—she could feel it calling to her. It needed her. In her haste she forgot to check the room and walked straight over a sleeping human. One of the men from that afternoon. He awoke immediately and grabbed her, throwing her to the floor. In no time the other three men were there and the lanterns were lit. 'So, little Freyja,' he teased, 'you really want that necklace?' She nodded, terrified beyond belief, but determined. 'What do you say, brothers, should we make the little Freyja a deal she can't resist?' He turned to his companions, and they all turned to her. Grinning. Drooling practically.

"'Well, Freyja, we will give you the necklace.' She knew something was wrong now, and shook her head. "But I have no money!' she replied, and the men laughed. 'We have all the gold we could ever want. We need no more. But we are lonely.' Still, Freyja's brain must have been moving slowly, and she shook her head again. 'How can I solve that?' Like earlier in the afternoon, this time the men didn't even bother to laugh. 'If you spend one night in each of our beds, we will give you the necklace.' Of course, the girl gasped, and shook her head, and cried. She ran from the building, but the next few weeks were hard on her. The weather dipped, and she and her brother were unable to find anything worthwhile in the trash heaps. Perhaps it was the season, or simply her luck, but there seemed to be no work anywhere. Freyja could not stop thinking about the necklace, and got so far as to convince herself that she could even get it from the men and sell it somewhere else. Something. Anything to soothe her and her brother's empty bellies. One afternoon she showed up at the forge, eyes downcast and shoulders slumped. The men knew why she was there, took her in, and locked the door behind her."

Flo stood up and poured me a glass of water in the kitchen. I stared at the carpet, listening to water rushing into the glass, and trying to decide how personal this story was to Flo. If I hadn't known better I would have thought she excused herself to wipe away tears, not pour me some water.

"About a week later she emerged looking quite the same, feeling dirtier than she ever had in her life." Flo continued, sitting back down across from me. "And she clutched the necklace in her hand. She could feel it vibrating against her callused palm, but was unable to put it on right away, wondering if it had been worth it.